Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.

I need sleep!

Alex (6) has always been a morning person. His normal wake up time is anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30. On school mornings, he's good about getting up, going to the bathroom, and then playing in his room with his door closed until I get up at 7. Weekends, however, are another story. He gets up and goes to the bathroom and then every half hour is in our room with something. "Can I watch Netflix?" "I'm hungry" "There's a funny noise outside my window" "I think Carter has a bedbug bite" "Do I have school today?" "I really want to watch Netflix now." "Do you know where my Batman shirt is?" "Is today Valentine's Day?"

The rule is no TV before 7:30 - I know I can't stop him waking up that early, but I know that if he were allowed to start Netflix as soon as he got up, he'd wake earlier and earlier until he was up at 3 just so he could watch tv. He has an alarm clock that goes off at 7:30 so he knows at which point he's allowed to watch Netflix, but is in our room asking multiple times before then regardless (this morning he was told if he asked one more time before his alarm went off, he'd be cut off, and he asked THREE more times, then of course had a meltdown when I told him no Netflix at all today). He's capable of fixing himself something to eat (even if it's just grabbing an apple or some yogurt). So there is no reason that he NEEDS to come in and talk to us right then and there.

What if you gave him a list of things to do when he wakes up? Like getting his chores done first thing. Eat breakfast, clean his room, make his bed etc.

And I would be consistant about no Netflix at all if he comes in before 7:00.

Do you think he sees these early mornings as his chance at alone time with you before his brother wakes up?

On
the weekends, there's not really anything for him to get done! He
cleans his room before bed, and there's no need for him to get dressed.

I
think we'll need to buckle down on the no Netflix if he gets up before
the alarm - that may be the only thing to actually get through to him,
lol.

I
don't think he sees it as alone time, but he only gets to watch Netflix
until we get up, so I think he just wants to start on that as soon as
he can! So I think we'll just start setting that expectation before bed and hopefully that helps. Thanks for the suggestion!

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.